Beijing Preview: Geely's $12,000 U.S. Vision

BEIJING — Geely, one of the fastest-growing Chinese carmakers, will introduce the new Vision at the Beijing Motor Show that opens its doors this weekend.

Geely made its first car in 2000, a very low-quality family hatchback powered by a Toyota engine. Although the company had previously made only scooters, its management learned fast, and car production rose from 5,000 in 2001 to 180,000 units this year.

In the process, the company set up new production bases and angered the French PSA Group — which accuses Geely of using key technologies from the locally built Citroen Fukang (a Chinese version of the 1990s ZX hatch). The appearance of some of the offerings from Shanghai Maple, a Geely subsidiary, seems to give weight to such claims.

A year ago Geely introduced its first "modern" product, the CK1 Free Cruiser, which finally was a bold step away from the previous knockoffs. Earlier this year it was followed by the LG1 King Kong, and now comes the FC1 Vision.

A prototype of this car, which is Geely's biggest model so far, was shown at the 2005 Frankfurt Motor Show. Production has just started in Ningbo, Geely's main production base. The car, which is about the size of a Toyota Corolla, is powered by a 1.8-liter, 77-horsepower Geely-built engine mated to a continuously variable transmission.

A Geely official told Inside Line that the company intends to sell the Vision in the United States. In China it will sell for the equivalent of U.S. $12,000.

At Auto China, Geely will also show an odd, 1970s-sci-fi-movie-style prototype called the Fengyin, or Stealth Wind.

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